At a Loss for Hair
by DinerGuy
Summary: "Gus!" Shawn's voice was panicked as he banged on his best friend's front door. "Gus! Gus, I need you!"


_Cowritten with my lovely sister (who sadly does not write much fic and as such does not have an account)._

_WARNING! Teeny tiny spoilers for "Dead Bear Walking"_

_Anyone remember the part at the end of "Dead Bear Walking" when Lauren was interviewing several of the characters? Well, we decided Henry's bit was the perfect idea for an awesome fic. Due to various reasons, it's only just now ready to post, but we hope you enjoy it anyway!_

_Thanks to Kkarrie for reading this over for us!_

_Disclaimer: Nothing Psych belongs to us. We're just borrowing it for fun. No copyright infringement is intended and we are making no money from this._

**wmwmw**

So far, it had been a relaxing Saturday morning, and Gus was enjoying every minute of it by sleeping in. At least, he was until Shawn showed up.

"Gus!" Shawn's voice was panicked as he banged on his best friend's front door. "Gus! Gus, I need you!"

After the third round of banging and exclamations, a bleary-eyed Gus gave up and made his way to the door. "What's wrong, Shawn? You know you could have waited until at least noon to pick up your -" He paused, his confused gaze taking in the hand his friend had clapped over the top of his head. "Shawn … what's going on?"

"Please just let me in, Gus."

"Okay." Still a little confused, Gus stepped aside.

Shawn hurried through the doorway and headed for Gus's room, his hand still on his head. "What hats do you have? Please tell me you have some stylish options."

"Uh … I think I do. What is this all about?" Gus crossed his arms and tapped his foot. His friend was up to something; he just knew it. All he could do was hope he would get out of it intact.

"Nothing! Why would you think it was about anything? I just finally realized your brilliance in the way of headwear!" Shawn called from the other room.

"Shawn …" Now Gus was actually starting to get worried. Mostly due to the assorted bangings that were coming from his room. He crossed the short distance to his bedroom doorway and stopped short, sighing. "Shawn, this better not be like the time you faked a sprained ankle so you could take my Michael Jackson music collection. And you're going to clean all this up as soon as you finish. If you're looking for that jacket I borrowed last week, it's in the hall closet. Not in here."

Shawn looked up from where he was rummaging one-handed through the bedroom closet. "I know that."

"And why do you want a hat anyway?" Gus inquired, bending to pick up several clothing items that were now occupying space in the middle of his floor. "Aren't you always the one saying it would be a crime to keep your 'awesome' hairstyle from the world?"

"Wow, Gus. Air quotes. I'm so proud of you," Shawn said distractedly.

"Seriously, Shawn." Gus' voice was serious enough to make Shawn turn around, though he still kept a hand atop his head.

He smiled innocently. "Yes, buddy?"

"What is going on? And don't give me another outlandish answer," he added as Shawn opened his mouth.

"Fine. My dad cursed me, that's what," Shawn huffed.

"He - what? That's not even possible!"

"It is too!" Shawn defended himself, getting to his feet. "I woke up this morning and look!" He tilted his head forward and removed his hand.

Gus peered intently at his friend's head. "What? I don't see anything."

"It's there, Gus! Look!" Shawn parted his hair, revealing a small bald spot near the middle of his scalp.

Gus barely smothered a laugh. "Shawn -"

"I know!" Shawn's hand was back on his head, his voice wounded. "It wasn't like that last night, and then this morning some of it had fallen out!"

"Let me see again."

"No! This is why I need a hat. My dad may be okay with baring his scalp to the world, but I've got a little more dignity than that."

"Are you sure it just fell out?" Gus asked. "Did you do anything different to it recently?"

Shawn paused in thought. "I don't …"

"That smell!" Gus interrupted. "Did you start using a new shampoo?"

"They had pineapple-scented hair products at the store yesterday! And they actually smelled like pineapple, as opposed to that air freshener I bought last week."

Gus' nose wrinkled in memory of that episode. "Shawn, did you happen to look at the ingredients on this new product?" he asked.

"Um … I don't think so. I didn't think it mattered."

"Shawn, if it has sodium lauryl sulfate in it, that's probably your problem."

"Soda what now?" Shawn blinked.

"Sodium lauryl sulfate," Gus corrected. "It's an ingredient found in some shampoos that can damage hair follicles. Actually, synthetic fragrances contain hundreds of chemicals, which can cause all sorts of problems," he added. "I bet that's what made your hair fall out."

"Well you don't have to sound so happy about it," Shawn said crossly. "It'll grow back, right?"

"It should," Gus shrugged. "As long as you stop using that shampoo."

"But Gus …"

"Do you want to go completely bald?" his friend asked. "Besides, you're lucky. Some people actually develop health issues from some of those chemicals."

"Nothing worse than losing their hair, I'm sure," Shawn groused. He sighed. "Fine, I'll get rid of it. But I can still borrow a hat, right?"

Gus nodded.

"And my dad had better not hear about this one," Shawn added, turning back to his hunt for the perfect hat.

"You do remember we're having dinner with him tonight, don't you?"

"Oh, right … Can we just tell him I developed one of those other health problems you mentioned?" Shawn suggested. "I'm sure he'd let me out of it this time."

Gus rolled his eyes. "You can try, but I doubt it'll turn out any better than the last time you tried a similar stunt."

"It's not a stunt, Gus," Shawn defended. "It's self-preservation."

Gus shook his head in amusement before joining his friend on the floor by the closet. As long as Shawn was going to be borrowing something of his, he might as well make sure his friend didn't tear apart his closet in the meantime.

The last thing Gus needed was Shawn finding that Rickey Henderson baseball card he'd been hiding since the sixth grade.


End file.
